Kareem Hunt wants to help local community, partners with Second Harvest

LORAIN — Lorain County native Kareem Hunt wants to contribute to his community by giving food and resources to people in need. The Cleveland Browns star running back, who grew up in Lorain, is planning two food distributions in partnership with local organizations and churches in February. Hunt met in a building owned by God's Kingdom Church in Lorain with potential partners Saturday to help with the food distributions, and also plan other future events. Hunt said he wants to help his community during a time that has been hard for everybody. Hunt is forming the Feed The Land Coalition with people in the community as part of Team Kareem. "This means a lot to me, especially being from this community," he said. "I want to do everything in my power to help give back to this community, help better this world too. We want to do this for the less fortunate families." With people being laid off due to COVID-19 and some students not being able to receive meals in school, Hunt said he wants to feed as many families as he can. Hunt said he doesn't want the food distributions to just be a one-time thing, but wants to continue the program as much as he can. Deltrin Kimbro, Hunt's stepfather, said food insecurity is a real problem in Lorain County right now, and that it takes a village to solve it. Kimbro is also a re-entry specialist for Place to Recover. "We feel it's in our best interest to partner with community leaders," he said. "If we can partner together, we can begin to tackle some of the great issues we face." Hunt also wants to pass out resources in the food distributions so people can know where to go for various kinds of help. Kimbro said needs in the community are greater than just food, and they want to provide help for wherever people are. But that will take a group of leaders. Kimbro said the Team Kareem group cannot do it alone and wants to partner with people who can provide different resources. "Kareem is a leader," Kimbro said. "He's a young man who embraces leadership roles on and off the field. And he knows the value of teamwork. He deals with that every Sunday, Monday and sometimes Thursday nights. It's always important to have someone to take up a cause. We can't be silent about what's going on in our community and the only way we can make a change is to come together to that cause." Team Kareem has partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to do the distributions, as the organization already has the framework set up. Hunt and his group will take two dates that Second Harvest planned for distributions and help pass out food. Helping the community Hunt grew up in has been on has been on his heart for a long time, Kimbro said. The first distribution with Hunt will be Feb. 16 at Ely Stadium, and the second will be Feb. 18 at Black River Landing. Team Kareem will work in tandem with Second Harvest and the Ohio National Guard at those distributions. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.